Merry Christmas

It is not love that asks a sacrifice. But fear demands the sacrifice of love, for in love’s presence fear cannot abide.

Choose love today!

Merry Christmas,Elaine

Pain

Tolerance for pain is high, but it is not without limit. Eventually everyone begins to recognize, however dimly, that there must be a better way.

If I can just keep this idea in the back of my mind all the time, then when I am tempted to think that things are not going well I can choose to look for, and recognize a better way. Love , Elaine

Who I am

“We are all living in the nectar of the Self and yet we all cry: 'I am suffering!' Everybody is in Devine Grace. Grace is around everybody.Yet we are not satisfied.”

Sri H.W. Poonja

The more I explore the idea of 'who I am', the more I realize the depth of my addiction to suffering. I find that I am addicted to the 'small s' self I made up. The fact that I seemingly share that addiction with about six billion others makes it no more palatable. Today I will look upon everything as if I have never seen it before; today I will experience and taste the ‘nectar of the Self’. Love to One and all, Diederik

Punishment

“Any concept of punishment involves the projection of blame, and reinforces the idea that blame is justified.
The result is a lesson in blame, for all behavior teaches the beliefs that motivate it.”

"Perhaps everything terrible is in its deepest being something helpless that wants help from us."

Rainer Maria Rilke


I just read that the U.S. is building 200 new beds per day for correctional institutions ………. wow.
Isn’t it time I wake up and recognize that every word, every act can only have one of two intentions: a cry for love or an extension of love? Isn’t it time I start responding with love to a cry for love? Isn’t it time I start hearing my OWN cry for love and extending love to it? Isn’t it time I start recognizing the enemy within and start loving him? Wouldn't it make a great Christmas present, recognizing that I made it up, recognizing I am not that evil thing I thought I was all this time? And, if I am not that evil thing then who is there to blame? There is no blame, there is only Love.

I am reminded of those beautiful words by Ste. Catherine of Siena: "The Absolute Innocence of all within my creation will take a little while to understand." Love to One and all,

Diederik

Reality

“Whatever I accept in my mind has reality for me.
It is my acceptance of it that makes it real.”

Where to start on this one.
To those of us who have committed their lives to a purpose of peace and joy, it is self-explanatory.
To those of us who still harbor some secret wish that something from outside our minds will make us happy, this is anathema.
It comes down to a choice between being a victim of outside circumstances or the author of my entire experience ... no matter what the world seems to throw at me! Seems like an easy choice, doesn’t it? Please do not underestimate the seductive and addictive power of the victim mindset. Love to One and all, Diederik

About clinging

“Clinging to non-eternal things is arrogance. No clinging is Loving all, so don’t cling and don’t don’t cling because both conceal the Truth.”

Sri H.W.L. Poonja

Arrogance could then be seen as just the idea of ‘I’ since the ‘I’ can only be sustained by ‘clinging’ or attachment. Without attachment all is One. Attachment is the thought that sustains duality or ‘other’.

Non-attachment is the constant focus of our path and it is a path with many bumps, road blocks, detours and such. Here is a little exercise we often suggest at our center: make a list of everything in your life , both positive and negative. Everything that now seems important, things like sex, children, health, chocolate… Everything. Then ask your self: “If it is True that I am Love and nothing else, none of these would hold the slightest sway over my moods. Since my moods inevitably swing from happy to growling there must be things on this list I am not willing to let go of.” Identify the non-negotiables, maybe it is sex, maybe it is chocolate (to many that is the same thing…) then ask your self: “What belief about myself is sustained by this need?” In other words, what does this bring me that I believe I don’t have? In Truth, of course, there is nothing I don’t have, I am whole and I am complete so this must be an echo of a mistaken belief. Have fun with this, if you are really honest you will learn a lot about why you have the things in your life that you do, both positive and negative. Love to One and all, Diederik

Rumi Quote

Beyond our ideas of right-doing and wrong-doing, there is a field. I'll meet you there. When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about. Ideas, language, even the phrase 'each other' doesn't make any sense anymore.

Jelaluddin Rumi.

The Victim

At Choose Again we teach that nothing from outside of our minds can have any real effect on how we feel. Nothing outside my mind can hurt me or bring me joy and peace. This is a stretch for everyone, from total beginner to seasoned spiritual traveler. The Victim in me starts to scream, objecting loudly. The Victimizer in me has that evil little grin on his face .... the Victimizer in me sees this as a free pass. The Victimizer in me, however, doesn't grasp that I am always attacking myself. I am the Victim of my Victimizer, we are one and the same.

If I am willing to consider that I choose my experience then why would I not choose a happy one? Then I send forgiveness to both the Victim and the Victimizer, love them equally and smile. Love to One and all, Diederik

Holotropic breathing

Once a week we do a group breathing exercise at the Choose Again Center in Costa Rica called Holotropic breathing. Over the years participants have reported a variety of results from the absolute sublime to a neutral: “What was that all about……..?“. A couple of days ago I had the pleasure of facilitating a private breathing with a young man of 16 years old. This young man is having all kinds of troubles at school, at home and in all aspects of his relationships. He is angry, feels hopeless and believes nothing will ever work out for him. I chose to do a private breathing as he slept through his first group breathing experience without any noticeable results. After breathing for ten minutes he sat up and said: “Why am I doing this?“ I explained that it was impossible to predict what might happen and to just have an open mind. He continued for another 30 minutes and stated he had enough. I selected a different CD, Deva Premal, and played the first cut, asking him to breathe again. After that cut he sat up and said: “That was incredible, I could see all kinds of things, but I don’t know what they mean, could we play that same number again?“ When the first cut had finished he sat up and said: “Anything is possible!. I have the potential to be and do anything!“ This from a boy who had until that moment felt hopeless, angry and disassociated with everyone and everything around him. Anything is possible when I remove all the barriers to Love I have erected! Love to One and all.